If you try to sign-in to the Battle.net website, you might have noticed that a new "Terms of Use" contract appears. You have the "option" of signing it if you want to access your Battle.net account and play your games. (The TOU pop seems to be region specific, yesterday Renvex saw it, but no one else received it or could confirm.)

The Battle.net contract itself is actually a really old one (May 26, 2010), but this extra page has been added to the Battle.net signin system because Blizzard plans on rolling out a new contract shortly.

The current TOU even has Blizzard's old Starcraft 2 in-game advertising partner (Massive Inc.) still in the contract.. even though they went defunct years ago.

When the new contract rolls out, you can expect to sign another brand new contract. Whenever a new contract or update is made, you'll need to sign the new one (just like what you have been doing within the games themselves.)

For the next contract before the Diablo release, you should see some new regional and user-specific security restrictions added especially for Blizzard's new region free game(s). I've been predicting these changes for a while now, including changes like this to Battle.net and a new "authentication system to intelligently track your login locations" which has recently been added.

You'll be happy to know, though, that this new Battle.net License page is tethered to the release date announcement.

When the release date is announced, it will be accompanied by D3 costs and availability, Digital Download information, and most importantly both the Battle.net Balance service and the PayPal RMAH integration will be finally available within your account. Users can configure and setup their payment systems in preparation for the future release. (The Release Date announcement should, logically, come before the B.Net Balance/PayPal integration though.)

It needs some major updates for D3 because in it's current state, for example, Blizzard expressly prohibits the buying and selling of gold or items in Diablo 3. :)

Virtual Items. Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Service or the Games. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in any Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service. Blizzard does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual property executed outside of a Game, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the "real world" of anything that appears or originates in a Game, unless otherwise expressly authorized by Blizzard in writing. Accordingly, you may not sell in-game items or currency for "real" money, or exchange those items or currency for value outside of a Game, without Blizzard's written permission.

The new contract will have all of the new updates for Diablo 3. Some of it might even contain spoilers since it will reveal information about the service or features that we currently don't know about. Possibly even changes for future games (like in-game ads.)

So, when the License goes live, not only will the new Battle.net features be live, but also new information about the services will be announced (like the RMAH region information we have all been waiting for.)

Interestingly, the contract currently forbids "Data Mining." Blizzard forbids you from obtaining or attempting to obtain any information about the Service (Battle.net). But everyone who reads these TOUs are actually data mining them for information. That makes reading or learning information from these TOU's against their policy. Apparently, my Battle.net account is at risk of deletion or suspension because I data mine information from the TOU. :)

Other than that, I've been told that forum threads discussing the appearance of this new Battle.net TOU page are being deleted by Blizzard for some reason. If any of you have more information on that development, let me know.

* UPDATE (01/30/12):

Users are beginning to experience some of the transparent changes made to Battle.net. Previously, users were able to change their address and country in their Battle.net settings.. but not anymore. In order to change your country, you now need to call technical support and you need to provide proof of your new address.

However, with the coming changes to Battle.net and the inclusion of Battle.net Balance and the Diablo III Auction House, it has become more important again for us to ensure that players are performing transactions in their local currency (where possible) and that this data is correct.

This was one of the many Battle.net changes for the RMAH that I have been anticipating for a while.

Looks like they're gearing up for the Battle.net Balance/PayPal announcement, and maybe something else right before it. *fingers crossed*